


If Only in His Dreams

by Cornerofmadness



Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Brightwell, F/M, Near Death Experiences
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24139180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerofmadness/pseuds/Cornerofmadness
Summary: A near-death experience has Malcolm living a sweet dream.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright/Dani Powell
Comments: 13
Kudos: 51
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	If Only in His Dreams

**Author's Note:**

  * For [darkmoore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkmoore/gifts).



> **Disclaimer:** Not mine, Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver owns it
> 
>  **Notes:** written for darkmoore for the prompt of Prodigal son, Malcom Bright, Malcom is "dead" for a short amount of time after being attacked. During that time he sees a possible future - happy, complete with a family of his own. Also fills the allbingo prompt of procreation

XXX 

“Dad! Devon and Marcus aren’t packing!”

Malcolm peeked out of his bedroom as his daughter came thundering down the hall, her long curly hair bounding. Skylar looked as pleased as always to be tattling on her siblings. She was four years older than the twins, nine going on thirty some days. “Are you packing?” He smoothed her hair back, and she looked at him with dark eyes, so like her mother’s.

“I’m _done_.”

He doubted it but Malcolm wasn’t about to argue. Dani tossed her bathing suit into their luggage and crossed over to them.

“Where are your brothers?” she asked.

“They escaped!” Skylar replied smugly.

A hint of panic overtook Malcolm even though he knew they were fine. His mental health had been better for years, even before he and Dani had married, and he put it all down to her influence. That said, he had his anxiety moments. “Where to, Sky?”

She pointed to the front door of their rental cabin. To Dani’s surprise, he’d gotten back into camping, or more like glamping really. He saw it as another way to slay the beast that was his father. They had come to the campground for a few days of vacation before they were going to travel south to Florida. Skylar couldn’t wait to do all the Disney Star Wars things and the boys were more than ready to get lost in Diagon Alley. 

Malcolm opened the cabin door and in the mud born of last night’s rain, the boys were wrestling in the puddle. Both had somewhere lost their pants but their underpants, shirt and hair were one solid mass of sticky mud. He grimaced and Dani huffed in his ear.

“Boys, honestly.”

“You should have stopped with just me. I was perfect,” Skylar informed her parents with all the sagacity a child could muster. 

“You are perfect but your brothers are….” Malcolm trailed off.

“A mess,” Dani finished for him. “What is your plan now?”

“Run away and let them be raised by bears?” He grinned.

“It already looks like they’re being raised by bears.” Dani raised her eyebrows at him.

Malcolm scanned the scene and then smiled. “Sky, herd them toward the cabin.”

His daughter ran off to play border collie while he turned on the garden hose on the side of the cabin. Once she got them to run toward him, he blasted them with the water. Devon and Marcus squealed in delight and shock, racing around. Malcolm chased them with the hose and Skylar kept them in bounds, everyone laughing. Dani shook her head and went back inside. When he finally got them clean enough to be reasonable to shove in the shower, he captured them under either arm.

“Sons, where are your pants?”

In concert, the twins pointed to the mud puddle. Malcolm scowled.

“Are your shoes in there too?” 

They just grinned. Malcolm opened the cabin door and pushed his sopping wet sons inside. “They’re coming your way, Dani. I’ve got to find the rest of their clothes.”

“I’ve got them.”

Malcolm picked up two of their marshmallow roasting sticks and handed one to Skylar. “Let’s play archaeologist.”

“Okay!” 

Skylar was many things but she wasn’t prissy. She waded into the puddle, and they did manage to excavate the boys’ shoes and pants. She ran back inside as Malcolm sprayed off their clothes and the marshmallow sticks before going inside. He could hear Dani trying to get the boys bathed. He gave her a hand, getting Marcus dried off while she attended to Devon.

“Okay now we have to pack up. Grandad and Grandma are going to be waiting for us in Florida,” he said. Gil and his mother would be thrilled to see them even though his mother wasn’t much on Disney vacations. JT and Tally would be there with their kids. Skylar was emphatic that she was going to marry Jason, JT’s eldest, one day. 

Malcolm paused to watch his kids squabble and pack. Oh, he hadn’t slept through the night since they were born but hell, he hadn’t done that in years before them anyhow. He hadn’t been happy at first when he learned Dani was pregnant with Skylar. All he could think about was what they would face as the grandkids of a serial killer. Dani had convinced him there was so much more to their lives that Martin Whitly, and she had been right. He loved his family and he wouldn’t trade them for anything even if bath time was a nightly battle and the twins were sure they’d die if they ate a veggie and god help him if it was hair-wash night. Oh the drama! Still, this was right where he wanted to be. He never thought he’d be a good dad. He’d been wrong.

Dani slipped an arm around his waist and kissed his cheek. He smiled at her and then something hurt badly. He put a hand on his gut as the pain doubled him over. 

“Malcolm,” Dani cried. “Malcolm!”

He squeezed his eyes shut. When he opened them, he wasn’t in a cabin with Dani’s arms around him. The smells of a hospital assaulted his nose. The sounds of an EKG monitor reached his ears. Malcolm’s gut hurt so badly he wished he could fade back to black, back to the cabin. It had been a dream, hadn’t it?”

“Malcolm, you’re back!”

He blinked and in the harsh bright light of the hospital room, he saw his mother and Gil sitting next to his bed and Dani was perched on the windowsill.

“Oh Malcolm.” His mother grabbed his hand in hers which shook and felt like ice.

“We almost lost you, kid. The doctor said you were gone for over a minute.” Gil reached over and cupped Malcolm’s head. “But you’re safe now. You just rest. You’re going to be here a while.”

Malcolm sighed softly. He didn’t feel safe. He was in pain and he felt robbed. His family had been made of naught but near-death dream stuff. He turned his face to Dani who was framed by the light filtering in the window. Even worried, she looked beautiful.

“You’re going to be okay,” she said. “You looked peaceful for a little while there.”

“Dreaming…of you,” he whispered and her eyes popped. Malcolm wanted to say more but his body wouldn’t cooperate. Even as he felt himself drift back off, he hoped he’d see his family again if only in his dreams.


End file.
